Staffing for spring

In February, we dedicated our annual Spring Survival Guide to the issues of staffing and human resources — which are cited by many retailers as the most pressing issues they face each year. Making time for hiring, training and preparing your staff can be especially difficult in the hectic spring season, so we wanted to know how our readers and followers found seasonal help for their businesses.

Toni Palafox of Mission Hills Nursery in San Diego, Calif., commented on a Facebook post by Garden Center, saying that part-time staff of Mission Hills Nursery are given more hours during the peak season.

“We have part time staff year-round that gets bumped to more hours for the spring,” Palafox says.

Shelly Minette, owner of Studio DIY and Outdoor Concepts, two outdoor living companies in Valley, Neb., says she takes a similar approach by bumping up hours in the spring for her part-timers.

“I hire seasonal employees. I have a retired local gal and a few high schoolers. Word of mouth has been my biggest success,” Minette says. “They all stay on staff through the winter but have limited hours. And then of course when planting season hits … here we go!”

Our thanks go out to the respondents who participated this month, and we wish luck to all of our readers this spring.